They welcomed him into the studio with a standing ovation and confirmed how much the audience loves Lino Banfi. And he chose the living room of his friend Silvia Toffanin’s “Verissimo” to share his great sadness at the death of his beloved wife Lucia Lagrasta, who passed away last February. “It’s tough, it’s tough – the actor admitted when the presenter asked him how he was experiencing these weeks of mourning -. People who have lived together for a lifetime stick like glue and paper, if you suddenly tear glue and paper, there is no way to put it back together. It’s all so dizzying, weird.” Barely managing to contain his emotions, Banfi then traced his wife’s illness. “I followed the Alzheimer’s script, I followed it well, I knew the role by heart. The professor said to me, “Lino, we’re in a phase now where every movie he sees, every show he sees says he’s already seen it. Get used to it.” And I, when it happened, replied that I don’t remember and she said: “Maybe you weren’t there that day”. Then the professor said to tell her that I saw her too, so that she is happier: “Otherwise she understands that something is wrong.” And I: “Now I remember, I saw it, I saw it. If you want, let’s watch it again” and so went it further.
But eventually everything changed. «Suddenly the script, the film, the scenography changed – the actor continued – after Alzheimer’s came the epileptic crises, so he took antiepileptics, which are terrible drugs, but they are necessary to stop some things. After a while they said to me: “Lino, we’re sorry to tell you this, but we did the MRI and something else took over, you can see some spots on the brain”. Brain tumor two days later. A completely different script, you don’t understand anything anymore. I’ll tell you something I haven’t told anyone before. Although I am very Catholic, I got angry that day, but within two days – when I understood the real situation – this anger turned into a request: “I beg you, let her die”, we have reached this point ».
After reminiscing about one of Lucia’s favorite songs – namely Michele Zarrillo’s “Five Days” – Banfi addressed the present. “How am I going to adjust to life? It’s tough. Lucia almost died smiling because she was no longer suffering. He wasn’t conscious. I am scared? In 4 years I will be afraid because fear makes nine. Today I’m 86 and I’ve decided I want 2 more years after 90 so they have to give me 6 more. In the meantime, I’m talking to the person in charge (God, editor’s note) to give Lucia a place. She died in the same days as Maurizio Costanzo, they must have gone together to solicit verdicts. I asked if they would make her my guardian angel because there is a song by Renga that I like called “Angelo, take care of her” and in this case it would say “Angelo, take care of him” » .